This invention pertains to a shipping container or carton and more specifically to a shipping container divided on the interior into a plurality of sub-compartments whereby an auxiliary access door is provided in alignment with at least one of the sub-compartments providing a separate access thereto whereby the sub-compartment may be separately packed at different times.
Presently, there are a number of cartons and shipping containers available that are provided with a primary access whereby the containers may be readily and easily packed and unpacked and some of the containers utilize a separate access door to facilitate the dispensing of the contents thereof. Typical examples of these types of containers are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,262,631 and 4,283,000. There are also a number of containers presently available that are provided with access doors and are divided on the interior into a plurality of compartments by internal partitions, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,466.
Containers of the aforementioned type require that the entire carton contents be packed at the same time and it is not possible to quickly and easily vary the type of contents in a common carton. Also, the containers do not provide an access door in alignment with a sub-compartment wherein the sub-compartment is easily accessible via a separate access door.
It is an object of the invention to provide a container having a primary opening and an auxiliary access door therein in alignment with a sub-compartment to permit selective packing and wherein the container is inexpensive to manufacture, durable in structure and the sub-compartment is easily and readily packed and unpacked without use of the primary opening.
Another object of the invention is to provide a container having sub-compartments formed on the interior wherein a separate access door is provided in alignment with one of the sub-compartments for readily accessing thereof and whereby a portion of the carton may be pre-packed.
Another object of the invention is to provide a shipping container having an access door therein in alignment with a sub-compartment formed on the interior of the container, wherein the sub-compartment provides separation and added protection to its contents from other contents packaged within the container.
A further object of the invention is to provide a shipping container having an auxiliary access door in alignment with a sub-compartment, wherein the door is conveniently located such that it is accessible when the . container is in a stacked relationship.
In the practice of the invention the container is formed of cut and scored fiber board folded into a rectangular shape having four side walls and closeable end flaps forming the top and bottom of the container. An access door is formed in one of the side walls in alignment with a sub-compartment formed on the interior of the container.
A separating panel is supported by an egg crate type divider and includes a flat portion and a rectangular box portion. The rectangular box portion is open at both ends and extends the full length of the container defining a sub-compartment. The panel is located such that one of the open ends of the sub-compartment is in alignment with an access door. The access door is hingedly connected and provides a separate access to the sub-compartment when the primary end flaps are closed.
The auxiliary access door provides for efficiency in shipping and handling such that contents may be easily placed or removed from the sub-compartment when the primary end flaps are closed permitting pre-packing of a portion of the carton and permitting selective packing of the sub-compartment. Also, the sub-compartment provides protection by separating the contents within the sub-compartment from other contents packaged in the container.